BlackRock’s Richard Plackett to retire

BlackRock’s Richard Plackett, co-manager of the UK Special Situations fund and former head of the UK Small and Mid Cap equities team, is to retire from the firm.

Plackett, who has been co-manager of the £1.4bn UK Special Situations Fund since 2012.

Plackett will remain as co-manager of the UK Special Situations fund until 30 September and will assist with the transition of his responsibilities before leaving the investment manager at the end of the year.

In a letter sent to clients, BlackRock said: ”Richard Plackett has decided to retire from the fund management industry after a long and successful 25-year career. We wish him well in his retirement and thank him for his contributions to the firm and its clients.”

The firm’s current UK equity portfolio manager and co-head of the UK equity team Luke Chappell will become co-manager of the fund with immediate effect, working with mid- and small-cap fund manager Roland Arnold.

After taking a six-month sabbatical a year ago, Plackett returend to the business last October. However, he decided to step down from his role as head of the UK small and mid cap team, but resumed his role as co-manager of the UK Special Situation fund.

Fund manager Ralph Cox took over as head of the UK small and mid cap team and also continued to manage two investment trusts – the BlackRock Throgmorton trust and Hedge Select trust – that he had been running in Plackett’s absence.

Cox left the industry in March, and was replaced as head of the small and mid-cap team by Mike Prentis.

The UK Special Situations fund has outperformed the Investment Association UK All Companies sector over the year to 21 July, returning 11.8 per cent against an average of 10.4 per cent, according to FE Trustnet.

However, it returned 38 per cent versus an average of 48 per cent over three years.